Beet-topping machine



W. L. AND F. L. JOHNSTON.

BEET TOPPING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 12. 1am.

. Patented June 1, 1920.

5 SHEE1SSHEET I.

INVENTORS WITNESSES ATTOR N EY W. L. AND F. L. JOHNSTON.

BEET TQPPING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED JULY 12. 1916.

Patented June 1, 1920.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 2,

VVVVVVVV.

I NESSES ATTORNEY W. L. AND F. L. JOHNSTON.

BEET TOPPING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 12.1916.

1,341,909. I N -TatentedJuneL1920.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

INVENTORS illihr l. Jb/msfa); WITNESSES My iad L Ja/wslon ATTORNEY w. L. AND F. L. JOHNSTONIT BEET TOPPING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JU LY12.,1916.

5 SHEETSSHEET 4.

Patented June 1, 1920.-

zg INVENTORSI fi/frrl. Jafmfiiall N E8558 MT/ad L. (la/Milan ATTORNEY W. L. AND F. L. JOHNSTON.

BEET- TOPPING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 12, 1916.

l N V E N T O R S iii/ er Jb/uuton w' irad l. Johns an 5 SHEEISSHEET 5.

Patented June 1, 1920.

ATTOR N EY UNITED s'mrss PATENT OFFHCE'.

WALTER L. JOHNSTON AND FRED L. JOHNSTON, 0F SIDNEY, NEBRASKA:

BEET-TOPPING MACHINE.

Application filed July 12, 1916.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, VALTER L. J OHN- STON and FRED Ii. JOHNSTON, citizens of the United States, residing at Sidney, in the county of Cheyenne, and State of Nebraska, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Beet-Topping Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to beet topping machines, and more particularly to a machine adapted to partially lift the beets from the ground and sever the crowns and leaves from the same.

One of the main objects of the invention is to provide a machine of the character stated of simple construction and operation. A further object is to provide means for lifting the beets from the ground and topping them, and collecting the severed tops. A still further object is to provide a beet harvesting machine in which the main frame of the machine is maintained in fixed relation to the ground surface over which the machine is drawn, beet holding and conveying means being rigidly secured to this main frame so as to be closely adjacent to the ground surface and beet lifting means being provided in front of the holding and conveying means, this lifting means being vertically adjustable whereby the height to which the beets are lifted may be quickly and easily varied to suit circumstances. A still further object is to provide topping means mounted above and closely adjacent the beet holding and conveying means so that, by adjusting the lifting means so as to control the height to which the beets are lifted, the amount of crown or top of the beet which is severed from the body of the beet may be accurately controlled. Further objects will appear from the detailed description.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a side View of the machine,

Fig. 2 is a top plan view, 7

Fig. 3 is a front View of the main frame of the machine with certain parts of the driving mechanism omitted for clearness,

Fig. 4 is a plan view, partly in section, of one of the beet holders,

I Fig. 5 is a longitudinal central section of Fig. 6 is a plan view of one of the lower top holders,

Fig. 7 is a section on line 1111 of Fig. 6,

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 1, 1920.

Serial No. 108,863. g

F ig. 8 is a detail of the rack and quadrant for lifting the beet lifters, and

Fig. 9 is a detail of the lever for operat ing the shaft for adjusting the beet'lifters.

The body of the machine is composed of a main frame 1, and a tongue frame 2 pivotally connected to the front corners of the main frame and carrying the usual tongue 3, double-tree 4:, and swingle-trees 5. The main frame 1 is provided with'suitable cross braces 6 and 7 and longitudinal braces 8 and 9. An axle 10 is mounted in suitable brackets on the side bars 11 of the main frame, and has the ground wheels 12 keyed on its ends. Each ground wheel carries a spur gear ring 13 which rings are in mesh with pinions let loose on the outer ends of the transverse counter shafts 15 and 15 rotatably mounted in standards 16secured on the side bars and longitudinal brace bars of the main frame. Each pinion 14 is provided with an integral clutchelement 17 adapted to cooperate with an element 18 feathered on the shaft in the usual manner. Normally, the clutch elements 18 are held outward in operative engagement with the clutch elements 17 of the pinions 14 by the action of coil springs'28 confined between the same and the outermost standards 16.

The shafts 15 and 15 are each provided with a bevel gear 29 keyed thereon. This gear meshes with a bevel gear 30 keyed on the upper end of a shaft 31 rotatably sup.- ported in a suitable journal member secured to the under faces of the brace bars '8 and 9. This shaft is composed of three sections connected by universal joints 32.

The lower section 31 of shaft 31 carries a sprocket wheel 33 keyed thereon. Wheel is mounted in a cylindrical recess 34 formed in one end of an elongated elliptical block 35 which is mounted in a rectangular casing 36, theinner side of which is open. The shaft 31? projects slightly beyond the sprocket wheel 33 so as to form a bearing member which fits snugly into an aperture through the side wall of recess 34. A recess 34 is provided at the other end of block 35 and a sprocket 33 similar to sprocket 33 is rotatably mounted therein on a screw bolt 37. The peripheral wall of block 35 is provided withagroove 38. A sprocket chain 39 is passed about the sprocket wheels 33 and 33 and oper- This ates in the groove 38 of the block. This chain is provided with a series of equally spaced spurs 40. These spurs are shaped with a normal'face and a beveled face and are so disposed on the chain 39 tha t,1on the 'pieces42 are secured across these lugs and the ends of a comparatively strong bow spring 43are secured to the pieces 42. This spring is secured at its center, to the back of casing 36 by means of rivets 44. The block 35 is provided on each side adjacent the recesses 34 andv 34 with a lug 45. This lug engages a similar lug 46 secured on the inner face of the side of casing 36 and serves to limit positively the outward 'movement of the block and the parts carried thereby. The casing 36 isprovided in its upper side with a slot 47 which permits inward and outward movement of the shaft 31 By this means the block 35 and the bars carried thereby are resiliently mounted for limited inward and outward movement within the casing 36.

We provide two of these blocks and casings which are suspended from the main frame,'near their forward ends, by standards'48. ,These members are mounted in parallelismand are so spaced that the spurs 40 of theichains 39 cooperate to form beet gripping and conveying members. By this construction we provide resilient gripping and holding means adapted to firmly hold the beets and convey them rearwardly of the machine a limited distance. Above each of thecasings 36, and parallel therewith, we mount a casing 49. Inthis casing is secured a block 50 provided at each end with an approximately cylindrical recess 51. Sprocket wheels 52 and 52 are mounted in these recesses and a sprocket chain 53 is passed around these wheels. This chain is provided with a plurality of equally spaced tapered veshaped teeth 54. The sprocket wheel 52 is ke ed on the lower section 31 of shaft 31. 49, are. thus driven, when the machine is in operatioinso that the teeth 54 of the inner runs of thechains travel rearward of the machine thus forming a conveyer for the severed beet tops. A bevel gear 56 is keyed i on a vertical shaft 55 and is in mesh with a bevel gear 57 formed integral with a spur gear'58keyed on a stub shaft 59 supported by a U-bracket, or similar device, not shown, mounted on the side of the elevator casing 60. Above the casings 49 and parallel therewith we'mount similar casings 66. These casings contain sprocket wheels and toothed chainssimilar to those mounted in the easings 49. The chains are driven by sprockhe chains 53 mounted in the casings ets which are keyed on the upper ends of the shafts 55. The two casings 49 and 66 are connected by a wall or board 67 .secured between the same. In this manner the machine is provided with twin conveyer casings in which are housed an upper and a lower topconveyer spaced apart and. supported by an intervening wall which narrows' and limits the passage way between the twin casings so that whenthe beets are conveyed through the passage by the conveyer mechanism of the lower casing 36, the severed portions and leaves of the beets will be prevented from being caught or collected on or between the conveyer mechanism and casing. The lower casings 49 are extended forwardly and provided with integral outwardly turned points 68, the ends of which are bent into loops 69." The points and loops form an inwardly converging opening at the front of the passage between the two beet conveyers. Below the points 68 ofthe casing 49 we mount two beet lifting members 70. Each of these members is 'of approximately circular cross section and is bent or turned outward toward the sideyof the frame.

These members are carried by angle arms 7 8 in which is mounted an arm 7 9 pivoted at one end in the slot; 7 This arm is pivotally connected to the upper end of 'adetent 8O adapted to engage'the teeth of a concave quadrant 81 secured to the cross bar 7 below the lever. A coil spring 82 is'mou'nted in the recess in the lever adjacent the slot 78 and acts to normally hold the detent in extended position. The free end of arm- 79 is secured to a pull rod 83, the upper end of which is secured to a latch lever in the usual manner, By rocking the shaft 75 by means of the lever 77 the lifting members 70 may be secured in any desired vertical adjustment, 7 i

The lifting members 70 may be quickly and easily adjustedvertically by means of the hand lever I 77. By adjusting these members theheight to which the beets will be lifted as the machine is, drawn forward over a beet row maybe accurately controlled so as to give direct and very accurate control of the distance to which the beet will project above the casings 36 carrying the beet holding and conveying means. As the topping means to be later described are mounted above and closely adjacent these casings, it will be evident that adjustment of the lifters provides means wherer by the amount of the crown portion of the beet which is removed by the topping means may be accurately controlled. This is of importance in harvesting beets which have been planted unevenly or where the size of the beets varies considerably, as will be understood. In addition, the'main frame of the machine is rigid and rigidly supports the casings 36 comparatively close to the ground surface so that but slight raising of the beets is necessary for the topping operation. This permits rigid mounting of the casings holding the beet holding and conveying means thus insuring accuracy? of operation of the topping apparatus as a whole.

The arms 71 carrying the lifting members are braced by brace rods 84 pivotally secured thereto at their lower ends and passing through angularly disposed apertures through the front cross bar 6 of the main frame 1. These brace bars are provided with heads 85 at their upper ends so as to positively limit the downward movement of the lifting members 70 and prevent withdrawal of the brace bars from the bar 6.

In back of the beet holders we mount an upwardly and rearwardly inclined conveyer or elevator 60.

As will be noted from Figs. 1 and 3 of the drawings, the lifting members 70 are inclined upwardly and rearwardly. This inclination is such that, when in operative position, the lifting members will lift the beet so as to bring the top of the crown flush with the under face of the lower top holder casings 49, as indicated-by broken lines in Fig. 1. As the beet leaves the upper ends of the members 70, it passes between the casings 36 containing the beet holding members. The beet is firmly gripped between the spurs 40 of the inner runs of the exposed chains 38 mounted on the resiliently supported blocks 35. The spurs hold the beet securely in an upright position and convey it toward the rear of the machine. As the beet travels rearwardly it encounters the rotating topping knives 108. These knives are secured on the lower end of a rotatable shaft 109 on the upper end of which is keyed a fly wheel 110. The spur gear 111 is keyed on shaft; 109 below the fly wheel 110. This gear meshes with a spur gear 112 keyed on a vertical shaft 113 rotatably supported bya U- bracket or other suitable device, not shown, secured to the inner side face of the longitudinal brace bar 8. A bevel gear 114 is keyed to the shaft 113 above gear 112 and meshes with a bevel gear 115 keyed on the inner end of the transverse counter shaft 15. By this means the knives 108 are rotated at a relatively high speed. As will be noted from Figs. 2 and 3 of the drawings, the

tops are conveyed rearward of the upper and lower top conveyers'on to the elevator. In this connection it is to be noted that the lifting members'70 do not act as digging members but merelyelevate the beets into properposition to have the tops removed.

This results in loosening the beetsin the ground without actually digging or exposing them. Our invention is to be used as a topper simply, and also as a means for 100s ening the beets without actually digging them. After topping, it is intended that the beets are to be dug and collected by a second machine of special construction.

At the back of the mainframe we mount a castering fork 116. This fork carries a short shaft 117 on the ends of which are loosely mounted the rear ground wheels 118. By providing this castering support for the back of the machine, and the pivotal connection for the tongue frame 2 at the front of the machine, we insure that the machine will easily follow the surface of the ground upon which it is operated.

At the transverse center of the main frame 1, and near the front thereof, we provide a seat 119- of usual construction. This seat is supported by the usual inclined resilient standard 120, the lower end of which is secured to the front bar 6 of the frame. The various operating hand and foot levers are so positioned relatively to the seat as to be readily accessible therefrom.

It will be obvious thatthere may be variations made in the construction and arrangement of the various parts of our invention without departing from the field and scope of the same, and we intend to include all such variations as fall within the appended claims in this application, in which a preferred form only of the invention is disclosed.

What we claim, is:

1. The combination with the frame of a beet topping machine having beet lifting members and topping mechanism suspended thereunder, of beet gripping and conveying members suspended from said frame and rigidly supported to lie beneath said topping mechanism and in close proximity to the ground surface beneath said frame and with their receiving ends disposed closely adjacent the discharge end of said beet lifters, and a severed beet top conveyer disposed above said beet gripping conveyer and just above the topping mechanism so that the latter is closely spaced to and shielded between said conveyers, said beet top conveyer projecting forwardly over and beyond the said beet lifters and curved outwardly and downwardly to provide guiding means be tween the conveyers and toward the said shielded topping mechanism.

2. The combination, with the mainframe of a beet harvester and beet lifting elements suspended thereunder, of a beet gripping, topping and severed beettop conveyer mechanism associated therewith, said mechanism comprising a pair of spaced parallel conveyer-casings having beet gripping and conveying means contained therein, supporting standards formed on each of said casings at one end thereof and projecting upwardly from one side for engagement to the main frame whereby said casings may be positioned beneath said frame to lie in close proximity to the ground surface and with their receiving ends alining with and adjacent to the dischargeend of the beet lifters, a twin conveyer casing mounted over and above said first mentioned casing and in spaced relation thereto, said twin conveyer casing comprising an upper and lower housing having beet-top gripping and carrying mechanism associated therewith, the said upper and lower housings being spaced from each other and supported in such spaced relation by an intervening wall embracing V the said housings on the inner sides thereof so as to provide a closed passage way between opposed twin conveyer casings, the lower casing of each of said twin caslngs extending outwardly in curved formation from one end to project over and beyond the subj acent casing and the said-beet lifters to provide guide means for deflecting the beets into the passageway between each pair of lowermost end in the space between the lower housing of the twin casing and the sub-' jacent beet conveyer casing, anda topping knife afiixed to said shaft at its lower end and projecting outwardly into the passage way between the said opposed conveyer casings.

In test mony whereof we affix our signatures in presence of two witnesses.

WALTER L. JOHNSTON. FRED L. JOHNSTON.

. Witnesses: Y

JAMES L. MoIN'rosH, Es'rnnn DEVINE. 

